Midgets celebrate '49 state champs, Sukanen's 1,000th point

HURLEY - Junior James Sukanen made school history on a nostalgic night in Hurley.

Sukanen became the eighth Hurley boy to score 1,000 career points as Hurley beat Butternut 62-24 Friday night.

That came after Hurley honored the 1949 state champion boys basketball team.

Sukanen led all scorers with 19 points and stands at 1,004 for his career. He needed 15 and his shot at the basket with about five minutes left in the first half gave him 1,000 exactly.

"James is a kid, he's a hard worker, he's a gym rat," said Hurley coach Mike Swartz, who still has 52 more career points for the Midgets than Sukanen. "Happy for him how all that work and effort paid off and he was able to join the 1,000-point scoring club."

It's not an easy club to join as a junior.

"Especially for a guy who's done it all on two-point baskets and free throws," Swartz said. "It's an impressive accomplishment, especially to do it in three years like he has. He's quite a player. We're pretty lucky to have him."

The night started with a look back 66 years ago to Hurley's only traditional team championship. Team members Peter "Pupsy" Savant, Clayton Corrigan and Wayland "Mop" Baron along with family members of the other players were a part of the ceremony.

"I thought that ceremony was tremendous," Swartz said. "I thought Dean (Kolpin) and Steve (Eder) did a fantastic job making calls and getting who they could back. It was neat to be able watch the (title) game from '49 on the TV at the school and some of the memorabilia they had.

"You look, wow, 1949, they're still heroes. I want to get there. I want to be remembered like that. I want these kids to be remembered like that. It's something to look for and set goals for. Look at how these guys are looked up to in the community still."

Hurley players wore warmup shirts with the 1949 state team photo on the front. Each player had a 1949 player on the back. Before the game started, each player gave the shirt to either a former player or a family member.

"Those guys are great guys," Sukanen said. "It was great talking with them and hearing stories."

Hurley didn't have much of a problem with Butternut in the battle of Midgets.

"There was so much going on tonight. My mind was racing, the kids, was our focus as good as it should have been? Probably not right from the start," Swartz said. "We thought we played a good third quarter there, held them to two points, so that's pretty fantastic, and we scored 18."

Thirteen players scored for Hurley.

"We got a lot of guys in," Swartz said. "Everyone got to see the floor and got extended minutes. It was fun to take a look at some different lineups and just work at getting better for tournament time."

Hurley wrapped up the regular season with a 13-9 overall record and a 12-4 mark in the Indianhead Conference. The Midgets won the final eight games of the regular season.

The WIAA Division 4 regional seeding meeting is today at Chequamegon. It looks like Hurley will probably be a No. 3 seed and host a first-round playoff game, likely against Lincoln Hills.

Butternut - Gunner Polencheck 2, Spencer Maier 6, Christian Ernst 4, Sam Miesbauer 12. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: Maier 1.

Hurley - Jake Tenlen 6, Luke Marczak 7, Colton Dowd 3, Kohl Manzanares 3, Dustin Simonar 2, Tandrell Foster 4, L.J. Kutz 6, James Sukanen 19, Mitchell Maki 4, Isaac DeCarlo 2, Kris Bluse 2, Jacob Saari 2, Chris Rye 2. FTs: 6-19. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: Marczak 1, Manzanares 1.

Butternut 7 14 16 24

Hurley 14 30 48 62